Finally, I'm back. I've attached the photos related to the posts. Just a note, the pictures have been attached to the paragraphs in such a way that you see the pictures (from top to bottom) before reading the short description (if there is), then the related paragraph. Yea, just in case anyone gets confused.

In summary:

1. Picture
2. (short description)
3. Content in paragraph

I've just finished my dinner, and I'm moving on to the crepe which dad improvised on. I have a second serving of wine to drink later, probably my last glass till I'm 18. (edit: no it wasn't the last. I had another glass during lunch on Saturday) We were huddling around the TV just now because there was breaking news that Tiger Woods was involved in a car accident. I'm so proud of myelf because I was watching CNN when the news first broke. Yea simple things make me happy..

Asterix!

The following pictures are quite funny. These are famous works which were re-interpreted into "Asterix" forms

We walked around the Latin Quarters this morning, which is the area near our hotel. We saw so many things but I'm really too tired to type them out. One of the interesting places was a building with the tombs of famous people such as Marie Curie. We were walking aroud when we suddenly saw some posters outside the museum of middle ages. There was an Asterix exhibition inside! The Chans are supporters of Asterix, and we're headed by dad, who spent his childhood reading Asterix comics. So we quickly rushed back to the hotel to put down the stuff we bought, and then walked over to the museum. It was very fascinating because I got to see the original mnuscripts, texts and drawing by the creators. The down side was that the original language of Asterix comics is French, so I couldn't read them.

Eating a chocolate crepe

One of the stalls selling food

The rest of the day was mainly spent shopping at large departmental stores. There was a lot of walking and shopping to do. In the evening, we went to the Christmas night market (the Parisian version of a pasar malam) for the third time. The main differences are that this market sells better (more valuable) products, it's not hot and stuffy, and the stalls are very nicely decorated (not some messy tentage).

People who like photography like dad go all out to take good pictures. Just today, dad made mom and I cross the road halfway just to take a picture of the night market. The other enthusiastic photographers clamoured onto the narrow road divider, oblivious to the heavy traffic, and started snapping the symmetrical nice-ness of the Arch of Triumph and the night market. Not long ago, I took a night walk (at least 2 km, in cold weather) with dad to accompany him while he took a picture of the Notre-dame's night time light-up.

We'll be leaving Paris tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) and I'll reach Singapore on Sunday afternoon.

Since this'll be my last post here, I'll sum up. In short, I really admire how Parisians are able to retain their rich history and culture (old buildings, French cuisine) whilst keeping up with the latest fashion (I'm sure we know) and technology.

Happy thanksgiving!

I was watching CNN just now and it was describing how millions of Americans would not be able to even have a descent meal on their tables for thanksgiving dinner this year. I have too much to be thankful for. For a decent dinner just now, I'm thankful.

This morning, we went to Basillique du Sacre-Coeur, which is an old cathedral that sits on top of a hill. The hill was in a small neighbourhood called Montmartre. Despite the narrow lanes and cobbled roads, I enjoyed walking around this small town. The small shops were also rather interesting and artistically decorated.

Napolean's coffin. He should be inside..

After that, we visited Napolean's (remember that guy?) tomb and the army museum. The visit to Napolean's tomb was insightful because I managed to learn more about French history. It was also easy to tell that Napolean was a great king because so much effort was put into sculpting his tomb.

Escargots!

A closer view

I ate 4 snails during lunch. Since we were in France, mom and dad found it a neccesity to try the Escargots here, so they ordered 12 snails. I thought snails should have been part of salads since they were, well.. somewhat related. The dish looked live 12 graves dug for 12 poor snails, covered in olive oil, garlic and whatever secret garnishing the undertakers dumped in. I think they don't taste too bad - just a little squishy. The trick to successfully eating it is to not stare too intently at the black curled structure dangling on your fork. Oh yes, more importantly, try not to think too much while chewing on it.

Musee de Orsay

A sculpture of Mozart holding a violin

We visited the Musee d' Orsay, a museum which used to be a large train station. The museum presents the whole range of fine arts between 1848 and 1914. There were works from famous artists such as Monet, Van Gogh and Matisse. I found it hard to appreciate the masterpieces, but I think I can blame dad's genes for that. Dad was practically frowning at the pieces and only some works won his favour. His physics-filled brain was probably already overloaded with art. Mom, on the other hand, had the patience to pause in front of every painting and slowly take in all the goodness.

After that, we went to Galleries lafeytte, which is a very big departmental store, split into 3 huge buildings. We did some shopping (Jean's going to like what I got her) and bought food from the supermarket to cook back at our hotel. I like dinners like this because they're more homely, and they also taste good.

Good night to me, and good morning to those in Singapore!

Paris - Day 3 (a historical day)

This morning, we took a train out to the outer part of Paris (we are staying in the downtown part) to Veilhan Versailles, the palace of King Louise XIV of France. The train ride was interesting because I saw the residential areas of Paris, which finally looked more normal in their architecture. The houses were mostly bungalows, not the HDB style. It reminded me the old US residence we had.

Outside the palace

The palace was restored and converted into a museum. We walked through the rooms, saw the queen and king's beds, many paintings and other artefacts. There was a n audio guide so I didn't get too bored. The palace had a huge garden, which was at least 10 times bigger than the building. I think it's crucial that the palace (including the garden) is huge so that the king can explore his home and not get bored easily.

The glass pyramid and the Louvre

We all know her...

In the late afternoon, we spent another few hours visiting the Louvre, a famous musuem. There was the glass pyramid in front of the old building which I think I saw in The Da Vinci Code (movie). The Louvre is very big because it also used to be a palace. It is rich in European history. One of the paintings on display is the Mona Lisa (original). I was quite excited about seeing it for real.

For people my age (18/17 and below), it's a good idea to go to Paris to visit museums and other sites because I usually got reduced entrance fees (eg. climbing up the Arch of Triumph) or even free tickets (eg. the Lourve). I kept rubbing in to mom that I was more economical to bring around in Paris.

Paris is really a city of lights. The buildings look old but when they're lighted up, they look very good. It's a different feel you get from looking at Singapore at night.

My legs are very tired from walking around so much. Free and easy holidays don't have the luxury of tour buses, organised plans etc. Sometimes we get lost and all that, but the good thing is that we get to learn a lot more from reading up and experiencing the adventures on our own. I don't remember any holiday when we joined a tour group.

Paris: 10:36pm, Wednesday
Singapore: 5:36am, Thursday

Paris - Day 2

Paris: 8:32pm, Tuesday
Singapore: 3:32am, Wednesday

This morning, I woke up very happy because I managed to sleep well. I think I drifted off in less than a minute after lying on the bed and I slept all the way through till 8.30am. Mom, on the other hand, seemed rather jealous because she was suffering from a jet lag and found herself waking up at 4am.

Notre-Dame at night

After breakfast, we walked to Notre-Dame de Paris, which is a cathedral which was first built in the 6th century. It underwent several reconstructions along the way and today, it retains its 1200s structure. it's very big and grand, and it's stained glass windows are a marvel. The painted windows depict stories and events from the Bible. I admire all the effort the people put into constructing their church.

Eiffel tower

Inside the Eiffel tower

The view from the highest viewing deck of the Eiffel tower

We visited the Eiffel Tower later in the morning. The weather was very good (not raining) and so we managed to take good photos of the tower. After queing up for a long time, we went up the tower in a lift. The 2nd level of the tower had the best view since it was not too high, and not too low. The highest point was all the way at the top. It was extremely cold up there and the winds were strong. It was nice feeling like I was at the top (somewhat) of the world.

A conversation I accidentally overheard;

A (A tall guy): I'm afraid of heights...
B: Then how did you get so tall?

Arc de Triumph

Let me introduce you to a guy. Now, please don't think too far. He lived centuries ago. He's Napolean, and no, not the one depicted in Animal Farm. This guy conquered many parts of Europe and Asia a long time ago. Today, we went to visit the Arch of Triumph, which was built under the command of Napolean. Napolean won many wars and was very powerful, but one day, he lost a war in Russia. He was exiled in St. Helena, Britain, and later died there. The Arch of Triumph was only completed after his death. After some time, his bones and ashes were taken back from Britain and passed under the Arch of Triumph. This arch brought about both shame and pride for the French. For example, the Fench wept when German soldiers marched under the Arch of Triumph and France fell to the Nazis.

Sorry I know this picture is of very bad quality. If you look carefully, you can see the spiral staircase that stretches all the way down. There's mom and dad looking up. I got a little dizzy climbing it.

We climbed all the way up to the top of the Arc of Triumph. It took a total of 284 steps and was 50m high. I was very fasinated by the view at the top because it revealed the artistic urban planning in Paris. The Arc of Triumph is in the centre and there are roads that stretch out from it to form something like a ferris wheel structure. There was a lot symmetry involved and the roads looked so well-planned. The roundabout area around the structure is rather messy because the cars are all over the place and there are no lane markings or traffic lights. I was quite terrified at first but I think the drivers are quite alert. I haven't witnessed any accidents so far. (edit: I finally witnessed one on the last day)

In the evening, we walked around a wealthy district, something like Singapore's Orchard road, or even better. Branded shops lined the stretch of road and most were very high-end. We walked around Louis Vuitton, which was super huge, like 10 times bigger than the ones in Singapore. There were some showrooms for cars, with brands such as Mercedes Benz and Peugot. The cars on display were very cool and rare. And today, I just found out that there are Mercedes bicycles.

My legs are acheing badly from walking the whole day. On an unrelated note, French food is nice. Oh and Mac Donalds isn't as rampant here as it is in Singapore. Now, I'll go have some food and rest.

Paris - Day 1 (a very long day)

Me standing on the road which our hotel is on.

I'm typing this using the computer in the hotel lobby and it's rather challenging because some of the keys are not in the standard set up. Right now, it's 10pm, Monday, here in Paris, and around 5am, Tuesday, in Singapore. My body clock is messed up after travelling for 21 hours (including 3 hours of transition time in Doha). Sleep quality in the plane was terrible and it was so exhausting just siting there and rotting away. I think my stomach must have been rather confused too because I ate breakfast twice on the 2 plane rides.

Seine River

Here's a brief introduction on the geography of Paris. It is basically divided into 2 sides, the North (Right bank) and the South (Left bank). The Seine River is the dividing line. There are quite a number of bridges that connect both sides of Paris, and each one has a unique history. I'm staying at a hotel near the river, in downtown Paris.

The Metro. There are 2 interesting things about it. First, you have to push a button to open the door yourself. Second, most city trains are double-decker.

After checking in, we took some time exploring the Metro (their train system) before taking a train to a place not too far away. There, we took a cruise that took us along the river. It was already rather dark by 6pm, so we were able to take a look at the light ups along the river. The buildings in Paris are generally old-fashioned but most are very grand. At night, the lightings are quite nice. It was cold on board the cruise but it was worth the sights.

The wine

Today was also a significant day because I was able to drink my first legal glass of wine. In France, anyone at least 16 years old can consume wine, and those younger than that can do so under adult supervision. While we were having dinner, we discovered that wine cost as much as a bottle of coke, so we went for wine. It's also one of the rare things that are cheaper here than in Singapore. Ah well, I'll have a few more days to appreciate the joy of drinking wine before I return and have to wait a few years more.

Dad posing with a 5kg bottle of Nutella in a supermarket

After dinner, we walked around and tried French snacks like Crepes and something called Choros, both of which are very nice. Oh and I think Nutella is produced in France, because I saw extremely large jars (whatever they usually store it in) of Nutella in those shops\stalls selling Crepes. Crepes also seem to be a very important snack in Paris, because there are whole restaurants dedicated to serving Crepes.

The weather is cold, wet and windy, making it even colder than it should be.

The flight to Paris leaves at 2am tomorrow. We are going to drop Jean off at grandparents’ house tonight (cus she has to go for NEmation) , and then yeye will drive us to the airport to send us off. After which, he’ll take care of the car. His car died recently, probably of old age. Oh and I just remembered, when I asked him what colour his new car was going to be, he told me it would be silver. At first, he wanted yellow, the very bright highlighter type, but then I think my very conservative nai nai violently objected.

I checked out our accommodation and yay, there’s free internet access in the room! That means I can record my experiences there more easily using dad’s laptop. Hopefully, there really is. Otherwise I’ll feel cheated.

The time in Paris is 7 hours behind Singapore. Temperature is relatively cold.

Mom set me holiday homework before this – research on Paris. Well at least I have a rough idea on what to look out for and the significance of the stuff I will see.

It’ll be my first time stepping into Europe. In my whole life, out of the 80+ (Jean counted) cities I’ve visited, three-quarters are in the US. After some time, I got very bored of US and was very excited about exploring Asia. Now, I want to see Europe. Oh and just an interesting fact, mom and dad’s honeymoon was a tour of Europe, so they’ve been to Paris before. One of dad’s important missions this time might be to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower again.

I hope to type the next post in Paris tomorrow.

I’m home!

There were a few rather interesting things that happened during the rather relaxing camp.

There was the telepathy incident which can be read on Jy’s blog. I was shocked twice but it’s amazing.

Ai and I planned to be the last to shower and by the time it was our turn, we had 30 minutes for ourselves. So we slowly took our shower and then all of a sudden, the lights in the canteen toilet went out. There was a very “Oh no!” moment when Ai and I were just stunned. It was because the lights operated on a motion detector and since we were the last ones, everyone else was up in the music room and no one could walk in to get the lights back on. We had to try our best to shower in darkness before we could finally clothe ourselves and step out to switch on the light. According to Ai, anyone who happened to walk past the toilet might have thought it was haunted.

I barely slept last night. Ai and I made it a point that the time we would leave camp would be dependent on the quality of sleep we managed to get. Oh and I can feel myself becoming of age. I have a muscle ache on my arm (from arm wrestling with Ai) and legs (due to running around). I’m going to do some work, violin practice, sleep, then get ready for (the troublesome) prom.

Jean’s reaching Singapore later today. I wonder what she brought back…

Strings camp tomorrow! I haven’t packed yet…

I feel so accomplished because I managed to (skilfully) convince jy allow me to drag her to play for the concert, and later on, to go for camp.

Today is dad’s 43rd birthday.

Prom is, to quote Ebot, troublesome. At first, I thought there was only a dress to worry about, but I later realised that it entailed shoes, a dinner bag, hair, accessories etc etc. I’ve already been to Orchard 3 times in the past week and I think it’s quite enough. Oh and I just realised the prom is in Orchard too.

Now, off to pack.

Today is the first day of my holiday. It was tiring but fun.

I woke up rather early to go to school to help out in strings for their concert on Monday. I managed to drag Jie Ying and Ai along with me. Oh and finally, after a very long break, Jie Ying and I got the chance to play Totoro again (and again)! (seize the day?) And now I’m addicted to it again. At least it’s better than having Haydn’s Symphony 104 playing (on loop) in my head.

TF was at East Coast Park today. As usual, I got a little distracted during worship at first when people looked in our direction and wondered why we were singing in the open. We played Captain’s Frisbee (the game without the usual ball), which was challenging because of strong winds. Most of the time was spent cycling. I was having a bad butt-ache and it was predicted that most people would come limping into church tomorrow. One effective way of dispelling boredom on our long cycling journey was singing as many Christian songs we could think of. We got some worried glances from passers by, but anyway. Then, went for dinner together.

I am very grateful for the good weather, considering the fact that it had been raining almost every day for the past week.

Finally, I’m back home. It’s another long day tomorrow.

My finger is going to get another blister soon, and a new calloused portion will form. Try this: hold your bow between your index finger and thumb only, and then draw it up and down the string, pressing hard on both fingers to produce a rich sound. Be careful not to drop the bow. Actually it’s about moments, balancing the bow and applying the right amount of force about the pivot. You’ll know you got the right technique when your arms feel very relaxed and the tone sounds good. I’ve only achieved that state of enlightenment around 10 times.

Now I can do all I wanted to do the past few months, and start planning for next year. I’m so free I don’t even know where to start.

An interesting fact: today is Friday the 13th November. It was also Friday the 13th in February and March 2009. In fact, February, March and November 2009 have the same days of dates (you get what I mean…).

I was reading Jean’s post (the earlier part) and smiling. Thankfully, no one’s at home to cast worried looks at me. Jean doing her Chinese O level now. Finally, the Chinese invasion at home will come to an end. She activated everyone she could find to help her with her Chinese (even me!).

Today, there’s Physics paper 1. I only realised it was today and not tomorrow late on Sunday night. But anyway, at least it’ll be over a day earlier than expected. I will have to do very well for this to compensate for my paper 2.

Tonight, I’ll be going to the airport to send Jean off. I think we’ll be having dinner at Swensens (where we usually eat at the airport), then we’ll send her off to her tour of Europe. It’s her annual school overseas trip (sec 3s get to choose where they want to go from a list of options). So she’ll get to see World War 2 sites (concentration camps, and Schindler’s factory etc) and historical music sites (like Mozart’s house, and watch concerts). Best of all, she gets to spend her birthday in there. Jean was asking around if anyone had requests for presents. Yeye’s was the best – a piece of the Berlin wall!

Ah so here I am, stuck in Singapore. But that’s ok, because after O levels, I’ll have my fun.

Yyyyyaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Only 2 paper ones left!

I still have about 8 prelim papers undone for Physics and Chemistry. I can either slowly do them to prepare for next week, or do it after O levels if I’m too bored (jk). Otherwise, I can pass it to Jean.

I’m glad I’m almost done with O levels, but on the not-so-bright side, I’m very free now. It’s not good because for the past few days this week, I’ve been loading myself with SS/Music/Geog, so once papers ended, I didn’t give myself much time to feel bad because I constantly had papers to worry about. Now, I have too much time to contemplate on my mistakes.

Mom thinks I should aim for ACS(I), and I don’t mind that much. Firstly, because it’s a Christian environment, and secondly, because it will allow me to develop Math and Science, rather than ACJC which is better in humanities. That’s possible only if I get straight A1s, which looks rather bleak for now. But I trust that wherever I end up will be the most suitable environment for me to learn, just like how I landed in SMSS.

Here’s a nice song which I heard during Jean’s school’s concert. I recorded it with my hand phone so there’s a sudden vibration somewhere because I received an sms. This song has been running through my head for the past few days. There's a better quality one here.

MGS (primary) choir – When I close my eyes

And some other stuff I recorded for Jean (so she could feel a bit more egoistic about her ensemble). But honestly, it’s good cus at least my ears don’t feel so weird listening to it. Oh yea the performance was without a conductor, a trademark I suppose.

MGS String ensemble – St Paul’s Suite, 1st Mvt

MGS String ensemble – St. Paul’s Suite, 4th Mvt

Lastly, here's an interesting article I came across. Click here.